


for a good cause

by sunshine_in_my_heart



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Eric has a thing for celebrity butts, M/M, Sweet, like maple sugar crusted apple pie sweet, maybe I'm waking up AU, super sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 07:22:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5407952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_in_my_heart/pseuds/sunshine_in_my_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eric bakes some pies. Jack and Eric attend a fundraiser for You Can Play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	for a good cause

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [maybe i'm waking up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4436639) by [idrilka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilka/pseuds/idrilka). 



> Set in idrilka's wonderful [maybe I'm waking up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4436639) universe.

After Jack gets outed half way through his first year with the Falconers, he joins the board of You Can Play. He actually gets approached by several organizations, really good ones, but he and his dad agree he can make the most impact with You Can Play.

"We want to have a big fundraiser in early fall, harness all the goodwill and momentum that's come from the publicity over the past few months," explains Chris Schaan, the managing director of YCP. "There was some discussion about whether it'll seem too opportunistic to move so quickly after what happened to you, but in the end we decided it would be worth it."

"Jack and I have discussed it and agree," Dani says. The Falconers PR team have seconded Dani part-time to You Can Play for the next 6 months. After helping with Jack's statement to the press, she filtered through the interview and sponsorship requests, and the Falconers offered her to help Jack liaise with whatever organizations he decided to support. "We think it'll make a big contribution to the organization's plans for next summer."

"That's right," Jack replied. "I'm here to help any way I can."

"There is one thing Chris and I were talking about," Dani says, looking to Jack. Her smile's a bit too clever. "We have an idea for the silent auction..."

* * *

Two weekends later, Jack and Eric are having brunch with Dani in Providence. It's a tradition that began when Dani started dating Jack's linemate Cory, all four of them would meet up for brunch on Sunday mornings whenever they were all in town. Their quartet was broken up when Cory got poached by Boston at the end of the season to be a first-stringer (accompanied by a hefty salary increase), but Cory comes to brunch any weekend he's in town to visit Dani.

"Jack was telling me about your meeting with You Can Play, the fundraiser sounds really exciting!"

"Yeah, Eric, it's gonna be great," Dani says. "Lots of players from the league will be coming. Jack assures me that Kent will be there and on his best behaviour. And I've spent the past week calling publicists for celebrities, we're hoping to get a few actors out. That'll really be what gets us the press coverage."

"Who've you got so far?"

"Too soon to say, but I've got a good feeling about one of the Avengers, shouldn't say which one yet."

"Oooh! How exciting!"

"Actually, on the topic of the fundraiser, Jack and I were hoping you would be able to help with something." Eric laughs inside as Jack looks up sharply, as if Dani had elbowed him to say the next line of the script.

"Right, um, if you don't mind, I mean, we were hoping you might bake some pies for the event. But I know you're busy with school, so you don't have to." 

_He can still be so awkward when he's asking for something_ , Eric thinks, and rests his hand on Jack's arm.

"Of course, goodness, y'all don't have to ask twice. You know I'd love to help. How many guests are you expecting? What kind of catering have you got? What are they planning for dessert? Only I wouldn't want to conflict with all the fancy food they'll be puttin' together."

"No, no, you misunderstand," Dani says. "We don't want the pies for catering. We want them for the silent auction."

"What?"

"The silent auction, Bittle," Jack says teasingly. "You know, people bid on things? Money goes to charity?" 

"I know what a silent auction is, you big Canadian goof. But why my pies? No one's gonna pay to buy one of my pies, especially not NHL superstars and Hollywood celebrities, goodness. Have you seen the food those Hollywood celebrity chefs make?"

"Eric," Dani explains, "your pies... have a bit of a reputation. Everyone on the Falconers loves them of course. Well, Aaron's always complaining, but I saw him sneaking two pieces at your housewarming party over the summer." Eric giggles—Aaron is the Falconer's nutritionist, and Eric's acknowledged nemesis, who tried to ban Jack from bringing any baked goods into the locker room. Facing a nearly violent revolt from the players, he backed down to allow mini-pies—"but not more than once a month! I'm serious, guys, you have to watch your nutrition!"

"And do you remember how you gave Jack a few pies to take to Cory for the Falconers' first pre-season game against the Bruins? The pies didn't make it out of the Bruins locker room. And now they call our team the 'Providence Pie-boys'."

"Lord, what a lame chirp!"

"What can you expect?" Jack says. "The Bruins aren't known for their brains these days."

"I'll be sure to tell Cory you said that, Jack!" Dani swats at his shoulder. "It's not just the Bruins, either. Our guys won't stop bragging about your pies to other teams. Trust me, they'll sell. So, what do you think, Eric?"

"Well, if you say so. How many do you want?"

* * *

The week before the fundraiser happens to be Samwell's fall reading week, so Eric spends the week in Providence baking. He should be catching up on the reading for his final year course on _Agriculture, Food, and Community in Colonial America_ but instead finds himself fiddling with the butter-to-brown-sugar-to-flour ratios for the topping of the three different crumbles (apple, blueberry, peach) he's planning to make for the fundraiser.

Jack dips a finger in the blueberry filling as Eric swats at him. "Tastes great. And what've you got in the oven? Smells fantastic—is that peach?"

"Yes, but the lattice isn't right. And I can't get the topping for the apple crumble right, the apples are too tart but then the topping is too sweet and no one's going to buy them, Jack, why would anyone pay for one of these anyways, argh!"

Eric stops mixing and drops his fists against the counter heavily. Jack stands behind Eric and wraps his arms around him, pulling him close. Eric's tense for a few moments, then relaxes back into Jack.

"I just don't want to let you and Dani down, it's too important."

"That's not gonna happen. Everyone's going to love your pies. Do you remember what happened at the Samwell Swapper in your junior year?"

"Yeah, I guess," Eric says in a small voice.

_The fall quarter of Eric's junior year had been a very stressful one. Coming back to the Haus without Shitty and Jack in it had been very disconcerting, and then trying to get over Jack—well, not getting over Jack, exactly, but getting over not having any chance to be with Jack—was even harder. Combine that with his new duties as captain of the Samwell Men's Hockey team, and a first-year calculus class that he'd been putting off since he arrived, and you had a recipe for a near nervous breakdown. In Eric's case, it manifested as the biggest bounty of stress baking the team had ever seen._

_"I never thought I'd say this," Nursey whispered to Dex, "but I cannot eat any more pie. What's he on now? The 12th pie this week?"_

_"Sixteen. You missed a batch of apple pies while you were at class this morning."_

_"We've gotta do something about this. Both Bitty and the pies, there is no way we have room for this many pies in the freezer."_

_"Guys, guys, guys, I just had the _'swawesomest_ idea!" Chowder's eyes were wide with excitement as he put down his empty plate. His appetite for sugar seemed endless, though that could explain his constant energy. "We could take them to the Swapper on Saturday morning and _sell them!_ I bet the tourists would love Bitty's pies!"_

_The Samwell Swapper was a farmer's market/antique show/swap meet/yard sale that was held on four consecutive weekends in autumn, and was very popular with retired middle-class Bostonians looking for something to do on the weekend._

_Two days later on Saturday morning, the frogs snuck a dozen pre-baked pies out of the freezer downstairs and set up on a table at the Swapper. Nursey tried to convince Dex and Chowder that they should ask for $25 a pie. (Dex frowned at him: "Isn't that a bit pricey for most people?") After an hour of sitting there, they'd received a lot of kind looks from passing retirees, but no purchases._

_Chowder was resting his head on his arms, staring forlornly at the unsold pies, when he popped up suddenly. "What if we gave away free samples? I know that if they just _taste_ a bite they'll be hooked!"_

_"Good idea, C! Take the apple rhubarb over to the cafeteria and microwave it, and Dex, you run over to the Murder Stop & Shop to get some plastic forks."_

_"Microwave? But... but Nurse, you know what Eric says about the proper way to reheat pies."_

_"Chill, C, it'll be okay. It doesn't have to be perfect, the tourists'll still love it, and the captain won't know anyway."_

_A quarter of an hour later, Dex was safely back with some forks, and Chowder was walking through the crowd carrying a hot apple rhubarb pie, being followed by several hungry-looking tourists._

_Another ten minutes later and the frogs were on their way back to the Haus, 12 pies lighter and with $275 in their pockets._

_When they told him, Eric was surprised and a bit upset. He forbade them from selling his pies again. "They're not for sale, they're just for you guys. I should cut you off from all my baking to teach you a lesson," he mused, but his anger lost its teeth as he watched Nursey add $275 to the butter fund._

Jack leans down to kiss Eric's neck, and says softly, "I know they're going to love your pies as much as I do." Eric gasps as Jack nibbles at his ear. And if he has to throw away the dough he had been working with when he gets back from the bedroom an hour later, well, that's just one of the many burdens of dating Jack Zimmermann.

* * *

Jack and Eric arrive in a limo that the Falconers have booked for the night, and find Dani waiting for them at the curb to collect the pies.

Eric hands her 20 frozen pies (and 3 sets of four mini-pies each) individually wrapped and inside freezer insulation bags, accompanied by careful heating instructions. The catering staff at the W Hotel have a freezer set aside just for his pies. Upstairs, Dani has done up calligraphic note cards for the auction: "Homemade in the kitchen of Mr. Eric Bittle."

As they enter the reception, Jack takes an orange juice and a glass of red wine from a passing server, and hands the wine to Eric just as he hears—

"Tag, you're it."

"Kent?"

"I'm done being the saintly gay hockey hero, your turn now."

"You can't just leave, Parse."

"I'm not leaving, I'm just going up to my room, I'll be back in 20 minutes." He looks over to see a waiter leaning against the door staring at him. "Well, maybe a bit longer." He clinks his beer against Jack's glass, puts on his patented Kent Parson smirk (the one Jack had caught him practicing in the mirror before a party one night in juniors), and brushes past the waiter on his way out of the room. The waiter—tall, brown hair, glasses like Holster's—follows him out.

"He's sure something," Eric laughs to Jack.

Jack and Eric mingle, and Eric is surprised by how many hockey players come up to him to tell him that they've put in a bid for a pie. 

Sidney Crosby mentions that he's gone back several times to raise his bid on the pecan pie—last summer, when Jack and Eric were staying at the Zimmermann's cottage in Nova Scotia, they'd invited Sid over for dinner and he demolished three slices of the pecan pie Eric had made for dessert. "But it's pronounced pecan, not pecan, what am I going to do with you Canadian boys!"

Eric is more than a bit starstruck when Chris Evans wanders over to talk with Jack about the Falconer's season. As he walks away, Jack leans down and whispers to Eric, "You owe me for not telling him about how you and Lardo rewound the boxing scene in _Captain America_ 12 times to check out his butt."

"JACK!" Eric hisses back, blushing furiously, which makes Jack give his boyfriend a peck on the cheek.

The Master of Ceremonies—the announcer for the Falconers' radio broadcasts—begins announcing the auction results. All eyes sweep to Eric when it's announced that his pies were collectively the biggest auction item of the night, with an average selling price of $1100, and the maple sugar crusted apple pie going for over $6000.

Jack takes the stage for the closing speech. "You Can Play is dedicated to the eradication of homophobia in sport. I'm proud to be part of a discussion that is long overdue in hockey and in all professional sport in North America, about how to ensure all players and fans are welcome. Every dollar raised in tonight's auction, along with your donations, will support three summer camp programs from some truly excellent organizations, including the first LGBTQ-oriented sports camp in the country, which will host more than 150 teens from across the US and Canada. We've had a dozen players from the NHL volunteer to drop by the camp for workshops, as well as players from the NFL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball. I can't wait to meet those fantastic kids next summer. On their behalf, thank you so much for your support tonight."

* * *

On their way out, Jack stops at the auction desk to collect a bag of something he'd won. Eric had put a bid in on an autographed Kent Parson poster just to mess with Jack, but was quickly outbid.

"What did you win?"

"I'll show you when we get home."

"Alrighty then, be that way Mister Mysterious," Eric says as he elbows Jack gently in the ribs.

Pulling away from the hotel, Jack and Eric cuddle up in the back of the limo.

"You did good tonight, Jack, just think of all the kids that you'll have helped." 

"That we helped", Jack says as he leans in to gently kiss his boyfriend.

The ride from Boston back to Providence is quiet, Jack and Eric enjoying the peace of being alone together after an evening on display. 

"It must be so different for gay kids these days. Can you imagine what it would have been like if we'd been able to go to one of those camps?"

Jack thinks for a moment before replying. "I don't know if it would have been much different for me. I mean, my parents knew when I was fourteen. And it would have been hockey for me no matter what."

"It would have been so different for me... maybe I would have been able to stay in figure skating, we wouldn't have had to move towns, and Coach would..." The words catch in Eric's throat. He laughs to try to lighten the mood. "Maybe I wouldn't have come to Samwell, if I'd been out. We would never have met," Eric teases, squeezing up against Jack.

"Well, I don't know about that... maybe we'd both be at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Team Canada's coming off the ice from a practice just as America's top male figure skater is stepping on the ice for a warmup, you and I lock eyes and I pull you in for a kiss and—"

"Jack Laurent Zimmermann, are you telling me that your idea of love at first sight takes place on an _ice rink_ at the _Olympics_?"

"... maybe?"

"Just wait till I tell Shitty about your romantic fantasies."

"Oh, and you can do any better?"

"You know what they say about what goes on in the Athlete's Village, and... if I was there, and you were there, and Tom Daley was there, well..."

"Bittle, you do know that diving is at the Summer Olympics, right?"

"Shhh, Jack, a boy can dream."

Jack laughs and pulls Eric in for a headlock, because that's just how two hockey bros who lived together in a frat house flirt sometimes.

* * *

Back at their apartment, Eric walks toward the bedroom to get undressed.

Jack calls out, "I'll be there in a minute, I've just got to put this in the freezer." 

"In the freezer? What have you got there?"

Jack inclines his head toward it, as if to say, go check. Eric pulls out one of his freezer bags, and inside it, the maple sugar crusted apple pie. "Oh Jack, you didn't have to buy one of my pies."

"It's not for you, Eric, it's for a good cause."

"The best."

* * *

At next year's fundraiser, the average selling price of Eric's pies nearly doubles. Jack surprises Eric by arranging for Beyoncé to perform two songs. She buys a pie, and the next day Eric gets a direct message on Twitter asking if he can teach her (and her chef) the recipe. When she comes on his vlog a month and a half later, the outtake of their flour fight gets 2 million views in less than a week.

**Author's Note:**

> Starring Kent Parson as Brian Kinney.
> 
> There are a bunch of LGBT+ summer camps throughout Canada and the US that could use your support, if you can. In Ontario, check out <http://www.tenoaksproject.org/> (I'm not affiliated, just a supporter).
> 
> Thanks to Ngozi for these wonderful characters, and idrilka for her lovely story.


End file.
